Guy Stagg blogs about literature, the relationship between culture and politics and, when all else fails, the zeitgeist.

You don’t have to be Left-wing to be good

The Left does not have a monopoly on morality (Photo: CARL COURT/AFP/Getty Images)

What does the word ‘good’ mean? Recently, the answer has been that you support the protestors outside St Paul’s. So not only do you think capitalism is an evil, but you’re anti-cuts, pro-Palestine, and in favour of legalising drugs as well. In short, ‘good’ means Left-wing. Very Left-wing.

Fifty years ago the word meant something rather different. Back then being good involved things like obeying the law and treating other people with respect. Crucially, goodness was not the preserve of any one political party or outlook. Morality was not a question of Left and Right.

But that’s not the case any more. Likewise personal virtue has become outdated now. Things like prudence, temperance and fortitude – well, who cares what you are like behind closed doors? These days morality is a public act. Being good is a performance. To young people especially your moral worth depends on the causes you support, and how publicly you support them.

Nowhere is this better demonstrated than the Occupy Movement. The Movement has made two important claims. First, that they represent the majority: that they speak for the 99 per cent. Second, that they are the good guys, and their tents are pitched on the moral high ground. Celebrities, the Church of England and just about everyone under 40 seems to believe them. But both of these claims are flawed.

The Occupy protestors do not represent people of all political outlooks and from all walks of life. Equally, their causes and concerns are not universal. Instead they are a bunch of pressure groups, fringe campaigns, and partisan causes, dressed up as a mass movement. Yet despite this fact, they pretend to speak for us all.

That pretence is the real objection I have to the Occupy Movement. The protestors think that they are on the side of goodness and virtue. So they are quite happy to assume the support of a general public that was never even asked. More worryingly, they are quite happy to ignore police eviction notices, and mock the traditional model of democratic accountability.

The Left has laid claim to morality. And the cultural establishment has let them, indeed it has all but supported them. But the truth is, you don’t have to be Left-wing to be good.

Here are some things that I think are immoral: acting as if the law doesn’t apply to you; treating our traditions and institutions with disrespect; racking up debts for future generations to pay off. But these values don’t matter to the protestors outside St Paul’s. These moral standards don’t suit the Occupy Movement. Why? Well, they’re just not Left-wing enough.